The Record: Paterson's loss

THE WAY it manages to keep fumbling away federal housing money, you would think Paterson is one of New Jersey's richest cities instead of one of its very poorest.

Just this week, we were reminded of the stark reality of the latter when the city was awarded more than $23 million in state transitional aid from Trenton just to meet its operating budget. It's a good thing that money doesn't come with a spending deadline like the federal housing money does.

Sadly, this federal housing money fiasco has been a recurring nightmare for the city since Mayor Jeffery Jones came into office and installed Laneisha Makle as his community development director. As was reported last week in The Record, the city is in danger of losing $4.3 million in federal housing funds this year unless it meets two separate deadlines for spending and earmarking the money.

Government documents show the first deadline is July 31, by which $2.5 million awarded in 2009 must be spent or lost. The second deadline is Oct. 31, when $1.8 million in program funds awarded in 2012 must be earmarked to specific projects under a December status report by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

We recall Paterson lost about $3.5 million in housing program money in recent years for not spending or earmarking by deadline. The city avoided losing $1.5 million in September with a last-minute allocation to a housing project being handled by the New Jersey Community Development Corp.

To see how far out of touch some city leaders are, one has only to listen to Councilman Julio Tavarez, who heads the community development committee. When David Gilmore, a city activist running for mayor, dared ask what's being done by the city's Community Development department to make sure the money is not lost, Tavarez accused Gilmore of exaggerating the urgency of the situation by "yelling fire." Tavarez added, "There isn't even smoke yet."

Perhaps Tavarez, who missed several council meetings last year because he was taking a graduate school internship in Ohio, was unaware of the sloppy, combative and unaccountable performance Makle and her department have shown repeatedly during her tenure. Recent history shows that with Makle, if you wait till you see smoke, the building's already burned to the ground.

Since Tavarez doesn't seem to sense the urgency, perhaps someone else involved in city government will take up the matter, and get a handle on Makle and her department before another penny of federal money is lost to incompetence. Paterson is a city that simply cannot afford any more million-dollar mistakes because of foot-dragging.